Trip to Cabo San Lucas

[2Wheels 0]

This is the long version. For the short version and a few different pics, see here: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=755725

Route: Nothing Special planned - just pavement and the dirt roads on the AAA map. We plan to get to San Luis Gonzaga (a 300 + mile day - about six hours) on the first night then start taking our time. Why spend time on stuff that's within a day's ride from home?

As we make our way to Gonzaga, the only thing out of the ordinary is that there are two army checkpoints on the Compadre Trail - one of them near Rancho Neji and the other just south of El Compadre.

Here we are at San Felipe for lunch.

San Felipe to Alfonsina's on wave runners... no we didn't do it... as we drink beers on the beach around the fire in front of Alfonsina's, we talk to a couple of guys who take wave runners to Gonzaga in the warmer months. It takes about an hour and burns about 10 gallons of gasoline. It's another expensive hobby I can't afford, but it seems like such a cool idea it deserves mentioning. This time they came on dirt bikes. It's their first ride ever on dirt bikes.

View from the balcony at Alfonsina's

On day two, we stop at Coco's corner, but skip Calamajue wash after hearing how swampy it's supposed to be.

We have lunch in Bahia de los Angeles. At the table next to us is a couple in their early twenties from Seattle, Yosh and Kristy.

Yosh is pronounced Yo as in “Yo, Dude” and sh as in “shush”. I think it's the Scandinavian version of Josh. On the next day, we're going to feel very lucky we met them.

They're doing a two-up trip to Central America on a Triumph Tiger. They're not even sure whether they'll get there, but they just plan to keep going until the money runs out and then go home. It should be in about two months they anticipate. Kristy minored in Spanish in college and spent six months in Costa Rica so she speaks the lingo pretty well.

View on the road to Punta San Francisquito from Bay of LA

We stay at Punta San Francisquito on the second night. It's really a cool place - just a bunch of palapas on the beach. Dinner and breakfast are pretty good too.

Palapas at Punta San Francisquito

The Crash

About 9:00 in the morning, we make our way out of Punta San Francisquito. The road is pretty good so I'm in the lead going around 50 MPH. About 10 miles out of San Francisquito, I see our turn on the left, but I'm going too fast to make the turn so I turn around in a cloud of dust. OH NO, MY RIDING BUDDY'S COMING STRAIGHT AT ME AT ABOUT 50 MPH! BAM!! OUCH!!! I feel my knee pop and know immediately the ride is over for me.

Next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground with my bike on top of me facing the way I just came from. I didn't see Matthew crash, but it couldn't have been pretty. I can't hear any bikes running. I call out to him “Matthew, are you OK?” No answer. After a little work, I get my leg out from under my bike. I can feel my knee sliding around so I stand up carefully. I can stand OK as long as I keep my knee bent.

What I see when I stand up doesn't look good. Matthew is lying motionless next to his bike. I think he's dead or unconscious. As soon as I take a step, my knee gives out and I fall down. I start crawling towards him on my hands and knees trying to remember how to give CPR. Uh, uh, uh… first you check for a pulse and breathing then you do a bunch of chest compressions and some breaths. How many? I try calling to him again. No answer. As I'm crawling, I try to see whether he's breathing, but I just can't tell from my head bobbing up and down. What a predicament. I can't walk, the bikes might not be running, and my riding partner might be dead in the middle of nowhere. I keep crawling. I call out again and finally he gives me a thumbs up. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders with that thumbs up!

After a while, he finally says something: “I had the wind knocked out of me.”

We both make our way over to the shade of a tree and just lay there for a while. Matthew thinks he's broken a rib or two and breathing is painful for him. He asks why I turned around. He asks why I turned around. "I missed the turn back there and I was going back to it. I thought you'd be further behind out of my dust." He says he didn't see me until he was right on top of me. Another couple inches and he would have missed me. Mostly I just lay there under the tree relieved and glad we're both still alive. I may have looked a mess, but I was one happy camper.

After a while, the relief wears off and we start assessing the damage to the bikes. Matthew picks up his Husky. I try walking again - more carefully this time - but my knee gives out again. Matthew picks up my bike for me. The sub frame is bent and the tail lamp is broken off the DRZ, but other than that, it looks OK.

The right footpeg is broken off on the TE610. It's a bolt-on footpeg and both the bolts have sheared off. We improvise a footpeg by sticking a tire lever between the frame and skid plate and zip tying it in place.

The ride back

I can't put enough weight on my left leg to swing my right leg over the bike so I get on from the right and put up the side stand after I'm straddling the bike. The DRZ is really a little too tall for me. I can only get one foot on the ground at a time and it's going to have to be the right. My left knee slides around the most when my leg is straight. Yes, I have to straighten out my leg AND scoot over to the side a little to get a foot down. When I come to a stop, I'll be very careful to make the bike go to the right.

Getting my left foot under the shift lever to up shift is a little difficult. Downshifting is a piece of cake.

The ride back to the main highway is 63 miles. The AAA map shows that it's a solid double line which means it's suitable for 2-wheel drive vehicles. Riding back without having to stand on the pegs shouldn't be a problem. Matthew takes the lead; I make sure of that. Once I'm riding the bike, I'm pretty comfortable considering the condition of my knee. My butt actually hurts more than my knee. It's just the thought of having even a minor get off with an already-injured knee that's scary. I concentrate on maximum safety, trying to keep my speed down to 25 to 30 MPH. Getting there is more important than getting there fast. But every now and then, the road is so straight and smooth, I just can't resist the temptation to pick up the speed to about 40 MPH. Over the rough/bumpy sections, I slow down to about 10 to 15 MPH, feather the clutch, center myself on the bike, and raise my elbows. This is what they teach on day one of the dirtbike school. They also teach you to stand while riding over obstacles, but if I try standing, I can't distribute the weight evenly on the left and right footpegs. I end up leaning the bike to the right every time I try standing. Fortunately, the rough/bumpy sections are few and far between and really aren't that bad and I'm able to ride over them seated. I'm mostly afraid and nervous about having a get off.

After riding for a while, we make a rest stop. I'm able to take a few steps by keeping the muscles in my thigh tightened and my knee bent a lot. I feel as if I'm walking like a monkey. After watering the plants, Matthew says his urine is coming out red. Internal injuries? He crashed hard enough. That's the scariest thing yet.

Before we get on our way again, Matthew asks me if I want a pain killer. He has Advil or Tylenol or something like that. I grab a pinch of Skoal and show it to him. "This is my pain killer." I tell him and that makes him start laughing. "Please don't make me laugh." he says "It's too painful."

So we're on our way again. Once we get to El Arco, the road becomes 4 lanes wide, straight as an arrow, and surfaced with gravel. I pick up the speed to about 60 MPH to keep up with Matthew and next thing you know, we're at Highway 1. Once we get to Highway 1, we decide to go north towards Guerrero Negro.

Bike Repairs and the Clinic in Guerrero Negro

The plan is to find a place to get the sheared off bolts out, find a hotel, and have Matthew's ribs looked at. Also have him checked for internal injuries. I don't want to have my knee looked at. What I need an orthopedic surgeon. I'm going to Oasis Medical clinic in San Diego as soon as I can. The owner, Dr. David Chao, is the San Diego Chargers' team physician. I won't be seen by Dr. Chao, it'll be Dr. Tal David. But I've been to him before and I have a lot of confidence in him.

Once we're in Guerrero Negro, we start looking for shop to get the sheared-off bolts out of the frame. After trying about a half dozen different welding and auto shops, we found a place that says they can do it: Soldadura Rivera (Rivera Welding).

While the welder works on the sheared-off bolts, Yosh and Kristy pull up on the Triumph Tiger and ask how everything's going. Not very well.

They say they'll stick with us and help with whatever they can. They give Matthew a ride to the Seguro Social to be looked at.

Extracting the two broken bolts took a total of about 3 hours. While I wait at the shop, I have a conversation with the owner. He makes coffee for us and brings out some cookies. He's concerned about my injured knee and tells me I should go to the Seguro Social, but I tell him I've had this kind of injury before and there really isn't much emergency services can do for you. I say that I intend to wait until I get to San Diego to see an orthopedic surgeon.

We get to talking about security in Mexico. He says he gets angry whenever he hears about insecurity in Mexico. He says Tijuana is where it's bad. From Ensenada on south, everything is peaceful. Guerrero Negro is as peaceful as it's ever been.

Another guy there, just a friend of the welder who was hanging out, told me the salt mines had been bought out by Mitsubishi. He liked it much better when the Americans owned it. The Americans expect you to work hard, but they pay well. The Japanese expect you to work hard, but they don't pay.

The guy working on the bike is no stranger to motorcycle accidents. He tells me that he injured three vertebrae in a motorcycle accident years ago and he doesn't ride anymore.

While the Husky is being worked on, Yosh and Kristy aren't idle. They go look for a hotel. They ask what I want from the hotel. I don't care as long as it's a clean room. At this point, all I want to do is lay down in a bed.

About when the shop is finishing up with the sheared-off bolts, Yosh and Kristy come back with some good news. They've found a room at the Motel San Jose on the main drag in Guerrero Negro. It's 310 pesos for a double room for a night which comes to about $21. Someone is in the front office all night so the bikes are relatively secure parked in front of the room.

Yosh has some more REALLY good news. He's talked to Tim Morton. The Baja Bound Moto Crew has just finished are tour and they're coming back from La Paz tomorrow. THEY HAVE ROOM FOR ONE PERSON AND ONE BIKE ON THEIR VAN!!! Yee Ha!!! I don't have to ride back to San Diego with a blown-out knee!!!

Once the shop is done and the original footpeg is back on the Husky, Yosh rides his Triumph to the hotel and walks back while Kristy keeps me company at the welding shop. After a while he comes back and rides two-up on the TE610 and I follow on the DRZ.

Once I'm in my room at the Motel San Jose, Yosh goes to the Seguro Social to check on Matthew and Kristy helps me get my stuff off the bike and carry it into the hotel room. It doesn't take long for Yosh and Matthew to come back. The x-rays are negative. They gave him some kind of Gatorade type powder to mix with water to hydrate himself. Told him to come back the next day.

I owe a big thanks to Yosh and Kristy. They both seem to think they didn't go too far out of their way, but all the little things they did made a huge difference to me.

On the Way Home

Matthew drinks lots of water all evening and by the next morning, reports that his urine isn't looking as red. He plans to continue the ride, but he'll just stay on pavement and travel with Yosh and Kristy. If he has serious internal injuries, he'll get a medical flight out of the country. He was smart enough to buy insurance before leaving.

The next morning, Manuela, the owner of the Motel San Jose, gets me a ride to an internet café where I find the phone number for my orthopedic surgeon in San Diego. I make a phone call and I have an appointment for Monday.

At this point, there's nothing to do but sit and wait for the Baja Bound van to show up. Matthew and I get to talking and we figure this isn't the first time a couple of riding buddies have crashed into each other. But hopefully it's the first and last for us.

Thanks to Tim Morton of Baja Bound Moto for giving me and my bike a ride back to San Diego after I blew out my knee 10 miles out of Punta San Francisquito. And of course let's not forget the guy who actually did the driving, Dean. Some of us get props for things we say on the internet … funny, entertaining or whatever. Tim deserves props for helping people who are in a predicament in the real world. I'm sure this time when he helped me wasn't the first time he did someone a favor and it probably won't be the last.

Last words

I really should have looked behind me before I started turning around. You wouldn't flip a U turn in city traffic before turning around, would you? Well, I made a mistake and paid for it.

It's also a good idea to always be able to stop in the distance you can see whether it's dust, a curve in the road, or darkness obstructing your view.

[TrophyHunter 15]

Glad everyone came back! Good to hear folks are willing to help each other & thanks for passing on the lesson.

[bikeslut 1]

damn Gene! Hope everything works out... Thanks for the report and the reminders!

Baja Bound to the rescue! Props guys!

[Crawdaddy 96]

Last words

I really should have looked behind me before I started turning around. You wouldn’t flip a U turn in city traffic before turning around, would you? Well, I made a mistake and paid for it.

It’s also a good idea to always be able to stop in the distance you can see whether it’s dust, a curve in the road, or darkness obstructing your view.

Thanks for the write up and words of wisdom.......definitely pays for riders to space out from one another.....better vision for each rider and also avoids "speed bumping" one another.......my son almost took me out at ~50mph in Bishop last fall........he wasn't paying enough attention to his GPS and was following too close so all he saw in front of him was a dust cloud........not me turning left.........I can't stress enough how comforting it is to also be able to communicate via radios.......major safety aide......

Hope your knee is on the mend quickly and glad you were able to make it back in one piece (Thanks Tim)

[tlking6 0]

Glad everyone came back! Good to hear folks are willing to help each other & thanks for passing on the lesson.

T-hunter said it well.

Thanks for the report and the reminder that we need to keep our wits about us all the time. Props to everyone who helped you, especially the locals.

Baja is always an adventure!

[dirt dame 559]

Holy cow! I'm glad that nothing worse happened to you guys. Hope all turns out alright.

[blind_in_1_ear 0]

good write up!!

glad you both made it...that far from it all.

welcome back!!!

Blind

[Yeti 0]

Glad to hear you made it back ok. Those first few seconds after a crash can be very scary while you assess things and figure out just how bad it was.

[racerbill 0]

Good write up, good pictures. I miss going to San Francisquito, used to ride the Nichols/Smith trail to San Ignacio once a year. Tim Morton is a huge asset when traveling in Baja and helped us out of a jam a few years back. The guy is also a great stand up comedian and really fast on a MC. Did you guys join the Bi- National Committee for your trip ? They provide medical evacuation out of Baja and are a kind of 911 service for gringos. By the way I'm a MCL, ACL, PCL replacement survivor. Recovery took a while and I only gained about 5lbs, got bored and ate. Good luck with the knee, I feel your pain.

[2Wheels 0]

Good write up, good pictures. I miss going to San Francisquito, used to ride the Nichols/Smith trail to San Ignacio once a year. Tim Morton is a huge asset when traveling in Baja and helped us out of a jam a few years back. The guy is also a great stand up comedian and really fast on a MC. Did you guys join the Bi- National Committee for your trip ? They provide medical evacuation out of Baja and are a kind of 911 service for gringos. By the way I'm a MCL, ACL, PCL replacement survivor. Recovery took a while and I only gained about 5lbs, got bored and ate. Good luck with the knee, I feel your pain.

In the back of the van were two other bikes. One from a rider with a broken wrist, and one broken down. I didn't fully realize how much Tim helps people out down in Baja before this trip. He deserves a huge amount of credit.

Bi National Committee? No. I didn't have enough sense. But my riding partner, Matthew, bought traveler's insurance so he could have gotten one of those outrageously expensive flights out of the country and it wouldn't have cost him a dime.

The knee is WAY better now than it was last week. By that I mean it's not sliding around nearly as much. Thanks for the sympathy.

[Joliet 0]

Gene, is it the same knee as last time? What did the doctor say? Hope it heals good and quick. Ken

[2Wheels 0]

Gene, is it the same knee as last time? What did the doctor say? Hope it heals good and quick. Ken

The other knee - left. In a few days, I'll have a better diagnosis.

[husky4me 0]

Gene,

I have been following you along with your spot notification... I was actually getting kind of bummed about not having the time off to have gone on this ride. I was imagining all the places you guys where exploring as I saw the google maps with your exact location. Well, it came as a shock when I read your e-mail about your accident (and Mathews). I'm glad the situation got resolved and it was not much worse. Now all you have to do is take care of your knees, and you should be back ready for the next adventure!

Sometimes I don't really understand why I like this sport. I participated on Desert Dash (Saturday), and the last run through the sand just prior to lunch, I was strugglng much and thinking to my self "I'm done with this." But then I get back home and I'm thinking about the next ride... this is crazy...

I feel for Mathew with his injured ribs... I remember when I fell at night while riding behind you guys on the way to Guadalupe Canyon... Hey, you guys were going too fast and I could not see anything... It was no fun to recover, not being able to sleep at night with the pain.

Well, I wish you a speedy recovery, and let me know if I can help...

Martin

[Strega 0]

......my son almost took me out at ~50mph in Bishop last fall........he wasn't paying enough attention to his GPS and was following too close so all he saw in front of him was a dust cloud........not me turning left.........I can't stress enough how comforting it is to also be able to communicate via radios.......major safety aide......

I remember this all too well. I was on your back right about 50 ft. Your son was on your back left about 75 ft. The dust was blowing R to L and he didn't see you slow down, I heard his bike after I saw you slow down and I didn't hear the motor ease up. I looked left and yelled but there was no way he was going to hear me. He blew right by your left side at at least 50mph, and maybe faster as we were on that wide open country dirt road in 5th gear. I'm not sure what exactly I would have done had both of you been really hurt. I'm glad someone was lookin out for us that day, cuz that was a recipe for a HUGE disaster.

Nice ride report above, thanks for posting that. It takes a lot to lay it all out there like that, gotta give ya props.

[christi20 0]

The crew at BajaBound are always willing to lend a helping hand. They are just good people and good friends of mine.